Avernum 4 Interview

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Spiderweb Software's continuation of its award-winning series that tales place within a vast underground world

By Richard Aihoshi - 'Jonric'

Avernum 4 is named for the nation in which it is set, a sprawling land that lies completely below the ground. Many inhabitants are exiles from the Empire that controls the surface world or rebels who came to escape its domination. Others are the descendents of earlier generations. Some come for what they hope will be relatively short stays until they can acquire sufficient wealth, most often from mining resources or hunting monsters to recover their caches of treasure. They dwell in colossal caverns, smaller open areas and the miles of passages that join them, with all but the most recent arrivals sharing a unique pallor that comes from not seeing the sun. Life has never been easy in this gloomy realm, but not even the most prescient of sages could have anticipated that it would become even more hazardous.

It seems as if every possible threat has returned, all at the same time. The savages and dark creatures native to the lower tunnels have been seen with increasing regularity on the higher levels from which they had been driven out. In addition, massive beasts are terrorizing the cities. Protected by powerful magic, they have established new lairs within the communities, emerging to wander and kill with nothing to impede them. The average citizens have also been affected. Normally peaceful, they exhibit a seemingly irresistible paranoia that makes them highly erratic and potentially dangerous. No one knows what is causing this great upheaval, but you've stumbled upon something that may be a clue. Our quest for more than mere hints about Spiderweb Software's game, which is slated to be available next year, led us to President and Designer Jeff Vogel.

Includes three exclusive screenshots

Jonric: Before we specifically discuss Avernum 4, what is the history of the series, and what are the property's distinctive strengths, characteristics and features?

Jeff Vogel: Well, when we first started Spiderweb over 10 years ago, we wrote a series of fantasy RPGs called Exile. They were huge, crude and fun, and their success established us as a business. There was Exile, Exile 2 and Exile 3 plus Blades of Exile, a scenario creation kit.

Much later, I looked back on the old games and realized that there was a ton of good design in them, wrapped in a very crude shell. So, I rewrote them from scratch as the Avernum series.

And now, at last, I am creating the first new game in this world in years, Avernum 4.

The original idea is a mix of books I read, games I played and this dream I had since I was a teenager of making a role-playing adventure in this huge underworld.

Jonric: What kind of game will this one be? What will it be about, how will it build upon the previous ones, and what will it bring to the series that's new and significantly improved?

Jeff Vogel: Avernum 4 is an old-school RPG in the tradition of games going from Wizardry and Ultima to Baldur's Gate. It takes the best design elements of a ton of these games and puts them together in a huge world with a cool storyline with billions of side quests and secrets to find.

Avernum 4 continues the storyline of the previous games, with a cool, entirely new game system and engine.

Big Shade

Jonric: What would you like to tell our readers about the world of Avernum and the situation that exists there when the game begins?

Jeff Vogel: Avernum is a nation underground. The surface is under the total rule of the Empire. Once, the Empire got rid of all its misfits, petty criminals and people who didn't fit in by sending them through a one-way teleporter into Avernum. There, they lived out their lives and struggled to create a home in the underworld.

The first Avernum games are about their struggle to survive, fight the Empire and win their independence.

In Avernum 4, Avernum is an established nation at peace with the Empire. Some come to Avernum to work the mines. Others come to hunt monsters for their treasure. And some risk life in the underworld because it is the only place where a person can be free from the total rule of the Empire.

But then everything goes wrong. The monsters that hide in the lower caverns start surging out, attacking people everywhere. Huge shades, shielded by powerful magic, have taken up residence in the cities, and are wandering and killing at random. And normally peaceful citizens have been afflicted by a strange, overwhelming paranoia that makes even regular townsfolk unpredictable and dangerous.

And the player is the one who manages to stumble upon a clue to what's going on, and gets sucked into the adventure.

Jonric: How did you come up with the series' underlying concept? When did development of Avernum 4 begin, when do you expect it to be done, and how solid is that date?

Jeff Vogel: The original idea is a mix of books I read, games I played and this dream I had since I was a teenager of making a role-playing adventure in this huge underworld. And this weird mix has resulted in this world that I have been working in on and off for over a decade. Funny thing, life.

Though I have been building on this game for years and years, I started Avernum 4 in specific in the middle of 2004. Then I took a break to write Geneforge 3. Then I returned to it this year.

It should be out for Macintosh by Christmas 2005 and out for Windows two or three months after that. At this point, I feel pretty good about that date. Though I'm sort of a one-man band, and I could get the flu at any time. So, if you like my games, hope I stay healthy.